Buying a Tesla is embarrassing. My net worth is definitely higher than this dude's, and I don't have a Tesla.
Embarrassing how? Embarrassing to who?
What no one talks about when running and selling a business
81–90 of 198 posts
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#82Let's be brutally honest - most of the successful businesses are about selling harmful (mostly in the long run - people should be myopic, not entirely dumb) bullshit.
And you have to possess certain qualities to succeed in that, which BTW work the best when you are not seeing part 1 as something bad at all.
This WILL make your social life a kind of hell - and you deserve it. People are not dumb customers, though not always able to articulate that (ie from shame, halo effect etc)
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#83The whole article comes across as very defensive... here's all these examples of people seeing me as an asshole, but really I'm a nice guy. I try to relate, but it's not my fault I don't understand all of these people that are beneath me while I'm kicking it in my crib with my stone counter tops and $300 jeans. Oh I really love my wife and kid, but... I'm just so unfulfilled. Brutal truth to the author after having r…
Yes, he probably is an asshole. But at least he's self reflecting and attempting to modify his behaviour. That's a good first step. And I continually hurt those around me — just by being myself-and it’s beyond heartbreaking. Somewhere along the way, money truly changed me for the worst. Most assholes don't have that level of reflection so I'm not going to be too harsh
"Most assholes don't have that level of reflection"
Don't be so sure about that. I'm most certainly an asshole and I am extremely self aware. These two things are not mutually exclusive. Many of my closest friends are also assholes and they damn sure know it. Quite frankly that is in part why we are friends.
I agree the author is reflecting however most of his reflection is denial. If he wants to get anywhere then he needs to accept that he is an asshole. Only then can he either decide he wants to change or decide that he is ok with it.
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#84Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends. I worked so hard in my 20s and early 30s that I let my closest relationships lapse in the name of making money. It’s tough to keep friends around when you’re either working, or work is on your mind 24/7. One of the unfortunate side effects of hustle/grit/what have you, that I myself experienced and can relate to the author.
ammmm, if your friendship requires constant hand holding then I would say it would better to lose them faster (early on) because they're not going to be around when you hit the hard times. My definition of a friend is someone you can rely on when things goes to shit eg... Being half way across the country and you've just been robbed and they drive 20 hours to pick you up. Now if they cannot even meet you half way acr…
There's a limit, as I recently discovered. I had very patient, forgiving friends. But they've given up on me, and I can't say I blame them.
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#85His problems have nothing to do with the money... not sure why he correlates that. Sounds like he simply sucks at interpersonal skills ... E.g. "I feel like my opinion doesn't matter around him because I haven't made $1 mil" we'll if that's how you make people feel it's your fault... if they're simply insecure whiners it's your fault for keeping them in your life... Same thing with friends... Another area to improve…
He correlates the money to his problems as a ego defense mechanism. By blaming something external, he doesn't have to face that he is an "asshole," to use his own word.
It's the difference between "money made me an asshole" and "I am an asshole and always was one." The first one is much easier to live with than the second one. Same with "my money made all of my friends insecure whiners" vs. "I filled my life with insecure whiners."
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#86His problems have nothing to do with the money... not sure why he correlates that. Sounds like he simply sucks at interpersonal skills ... E.g. "I feel like my opinion doesn't matter around him because I haven't made $1 mil" we'll if that's how you make people feel it's your fault... if they're simply insecure whiners it's your fault for keeping them in your life... Same thing with friends... Another area to improve…
>no person with style buys $300 jeans
There's definitely some very nice made in USA or Japan, raw denim at or above that price. They're definitely not household name brands though.
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#87The brutally honest truth about this guy is that he's an insecure prick who loves boasting > Only 0.4% of all businesses make it to $10M in annual revenue. We made it almost halfway through...When I sold my startup, we had 100 people working with us. > Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends... > ...Tesla...$300 pairs of jeans, $450 pairs of boots, concrete countertops...trips to New Zealand no longer bothe…
Just want to point out that you could be a bit more sensitive. You've recognized the author's insecurities. Pointing them out in this thread in this manner is something that one should consider whether it would do more harm than good. On the other side of the screen might be the author who is reading your comment and a bunch of other comments calling him out on his insecurities and then piling on.
You do not want to be the one comment that was responsible for a man suddenly folding in on himself and thinking "oh god I really am worthless. Why even be around?".
I grew up in an environment that made me feel insecure and then piled up on my insecurities. I know what it's like to run into a seemingly unrelated event that just makes you wander up to the rooftop of a building and consider throwing yourself off because you feel like a piece of trash that's always been as bad as you thought you were.
Please please please. I implore you and everyone else on this thread to consider words like this really really carefully. On the other side of that screen is a human. Flawed. Maybe deeply damaged. But human nonetheless. Let's take care of each other :).
Peace!
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#88I can't tell if this guy is a jerk or just pretending to be a jerk. But the tone is pitch perfect. Even the title is pure jerky clickbait. Here's a dude who talks about visioning as his main skill, is surprised when small groups of people don't want him to micromanage them, and falls deeper into solitude when he cannot discuss the problems of $400 boots with normal people. My heart bleeds. He should be transmuted into a parody for the HBO show. The really weird, deeper issue is that even when a totally un-self-aware human being like the author, or like the author is pretending to be, realizes they are totally un-self-aware, they still talk about it in an un-self-aware way where the reader is like STFU who cares... Lord protect us from what we want, and from who we are.
Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business
#89The brutally honest truth about this guy is that he's an insecure prick who loves boasting > Only 0.4% of all businesses make it to $10M in annual revenue. We made it almost halfway through...When I sold my startup, we had 100 people working with us. > Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends... > ...Tesla...$300 pairs of jeans, $450 pairs of boots, concrete countertops...trips to New Zealand no longer bothe…
I have to agree with this. At the end of the post I was still searching for the meaning of it. What was the point of that article? "I have money, and they don't so I can't relate".
As Patrick Meagher would say: "Some people are so poor that all they have is money".